Monday, April 30, 2007

Downtown Original SoupMan opens

Soup’s on! The Original SoupMan opened today downtown, the latest addition to the franchise gourmet soup operation owned by chef Al Yeganeh, made famous on TV’s“Seinfeld” as “The Soup Nazi.”

Soups change daily; among Monday’s offerings was lobster bisque, beef chili and mushroom barley. Not in the mood for a hot cup of soup on a warm day? SoupMan offers chilled soups, too, plus sandwiches, salads and smoothies. “We have a lot of variety,” owner Debra Canale says.

Yeganeh makes a charitable donation each time a new Original SoupMan opens. He donated $1,500 to the New Orleans chapter of Habitat for Humanity to mark today’s opening; Canale moved to Colorado from Louisiana after losing her home in Hurricane Katrina.

The restaurant, at 10 S. Tejon St., is one of about 30 Original SoupMan franchises across the country and the second in Colorado. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5:30 p.m. Sundays

4 comments:

Way too expensive-7.95 for paper cup of soup (12 oz)& small unheated bread in plastic! Sandwiches way too expensive and again pre-made and wrapped in plastic! Not any more exciting than convenience store sandwiches. 2 adults and child ate a very small-all wrapped- in- plastic meal for 31.50!! Across the street at il Vicino or up Tejon at Poor Richards the same price =lovely hot meal far more reasonable in value and ingredients. So disappointed-i looked forward to their arrival and now we won't come back.

Heard that most of The Original Soupman locations are shutting down because they can' t make it. The story that you hear on the street that 45th St/3rd Ave, 78th Street/3rd Ave, Harlem closed because they could no longer incur all the losses from the business (six figure losses, in less than a year, each). High Cost of Products from Franchisor plus No Customers=Financial Disater!Walk by the one's that are open 42nd/5th, 56th/Lex, Rock Center at 48th, Trinity Place, Hanover Square...there is never anyone in them. The poor Operators lost Hundreds of Thousands of dollars while their Franchisor continues to get richer. Other locations are for sale, too. Hanover Square, owned by one of the investors of Soupman opened in January 2007 and almost immediately put their store on the block. Hasn't sold yet. None of the stores can sell and the Franchisor denies there's a problem! Others closed down and some even filed for bankruptcy, Scranton, PA, Harrisburg, PA, Boulder, CO, Colorado Springs, CO, Myrtle Beach, SC. Maybe Al Yeganeh and the rest of the company should start feeding their Operators along with the Charities that they claim to donate to. There will come a time when their operators are on line at one of the Soup Kitchens because they lost everything to The Original Soupman. The operators are dropping by leaps and bounds while the Franchisor hides this information and gets richer. New operators and investors are none the wiser....but for how long.

It's interesting because the Owners of these franchises are going bankrupt trying to support them. It's all due to mismanagement, deception and dishonesty by the Franchisor...Soup Kitchen International and Kiosk Concepts. The Operators are losing their finances and the Franchisor and its Management are Making Out Like Bandits. Many operators have already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars...in less than one year. All due to the Franchisor. How pitiful! Heard that most of The Original Soupman locations are shutting down because they can' t make it. The story that you hear on the strees in NYC is that 45th St/3rd Ave, 78th Street/3rd Ave, Harlem closed because they could no longer incur all the losses from the business (six figure losses, in less than a year, each). High Cost of Products from Franchisor plus No Customers=Financial Disater!Walk by the one's that are open 42nd/5th, 56th/Lex, Rock Center at 48th, Trinity Place, Hanover Square...there is never anyone in them. The poor Operators lost Hundreds of Thousands of dollars while their Franchisor continues to get richer. Other locations are for sale, too. Hanover Square, owned by one of the investors of Soupman opened in January 2007 and almost immediately put their store on the block. Hasn't sold yet. None of the stores can sell and the Franchisor denies there's a problem! Others closed down and some even filed for bankruptcy, Scranton, PA, Harrisburg, PA, Boulder, CO, Colorado Springs, CO, Myrtle Beach, SC. Maybe Al Yeganeh and the rest of the company should start feeding their Operators along with the Charities that they claim to donate to. There will come a time when their operators are on line at one of the Soup Kitchens because they lost everything to The Original Soupman. The operators are dropping by leaps and bounds while the Franchisor hides this information and gets richer. New operators and investors are none the wiser....but for how long.

Like the previous poster stated. Horrible products for the price and the owners try to play off of public sympathy because of Katrina. The lady that runs it is an idiot and her husband no better. Avoid!

Welcome to the Business Desk

Gazette reporters post news throughout the day about the Colorado Springs business community that you're not likely to read in the daily Business section. We encourage your comments or any news you would like to share. Email news to businessnews@gazette.com or post a comment here.